Best Times for Wild Africa Trek

[mytripsandraces]

I know some of us have done the new Wild Africa Trek and I'm planning to schedule a trek for myself and my sister. What do you think is the best time (i.e., the time when the animals are most active or closest to the path)? I'm booking it enough in advance that there is room on every trek of the day, so we'd like to get the best time, especially since we'll probably be able to do this only once.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KodakFigment]

We did the trek last Friday 2pm was the only time open, so I reluctantly took it. I was sure the animals would be scarcer than in the morning.
We were very surprised. They feed the hippos mid afternoon, so there were 5 of them romping in the water and "talking" to each other. They were across the road from where we were, but well within viewing distance. On the savanna most of the animals were quiet. Only saw one giraffe, but the guides told us a mom and young one had recently been moved to AKL. The cattle and antelope species were mostly sitting or sleeping. The elephants were away from the pond, I think they were the most disappointing because we really couldn't see them much at all.
Now the GOOD news. The latter part of the savanna was teeming with activity. The cheetahs were running and romping all over their area. The lions were awake and sitting up near the front of the rock outcrop. The lioness got up and walked around. The rhino activity was awesome. We saw all 5 of them. One decided to play with the safari vehicles and ran next to them as they went by. The baby came right up to where we were parked. The ostriches chased the keeper's trucks trying to get the food. It was wonderful to be able to stop in that area and really enjoying the animals. We watched the cats and rhinos for at least 15 minutes.
The guides said that in general the early savanna and the elephants are more active in the morning and the cats and animals on the latter part of the savanna are more active in the afternoon.
The trek was a lot of fun and the food is great!
Hope this helps

 

[SuperRob]

Can I kick this up to the top and see if anyone has heard when the "best" time to go on the WAT is?

 

[blueshog2001]

What are the age limits for the Wild Africa Trek?

 

[Ash&Wes07]

I did it last month. I would either go with first thing in the morning or the very last trek of the day. Our guides told us those were the better times for animal activity.

We were the 2nd group of the morning (started at 8am) and it was awesome. Nice and cool and there was a lot of animal activity, minus the lions. We were told late afternoon is the best time to see lion activity as they are nocturnal and begin to stir in the afternoons.

 

[Ash&Wes07]

What are the age limits for the Wild Africa Trek?

Trekkers must be at least 8 years old to participate.

 

[sassyredhead]

We are doing the 8am Trek, as I heard the early morning one may have the best animal activity. Also, our tour is in June, so I thought the earliest would be the easiest on the humans in our group, too!

 

[rlahansler]

Husband and son did a 12n Trek last month and loved it and saw all the animals. Heres a picture of my son, he loved it!!!

 

[blueshog2001]

Trekkers must be at least 8 years old to participate.

Thank you DD 9 will be excited

 

[stamot]

We did it on February so the weather was colder. We did the 12:00 because there were no more time available. We saw a lot of animal activity and our guides were wonderful finding the animal activity. The elephants and rhino were very active. The lions were awake but we could only see their heads. The hippos were very active and wanted some food. We had a blast and my 8yo daughter love every minute of it.

We loved the food!!! AMAZING


Photo0227FourBySix by eddiedelacruz, on Flickr

 

[LumosQ102]

Love the WAT, and I am sure any time would be great, my only caution would be the heat - if you're planning on going in summer try for an earlier tour as its all outdoors & no air con (they do give you icy towels later in the tour, but much later when you can't risk dropping things into animal areas) and you re being vaguely physical, including a little trek in the woods and that amazing rope bridge. heck, even when we did it at 0830 in October we were roasting by 1000!

Have a wonderful time!

 

[SharonLowe]

Thank you DD 9 will be excited

In addition to age limits, there are weight requirements too. Minimum of 45 pounds. Any time of day you go will be great; different animals active at different times of day/temperatures. It is great fun and you will learn a lot too.

 

[LoverDisney]

We plan to do it for the first time in August. So excited!!